The musings of an amusing twenty-four year old traveling blonde

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Conversations with Strangers: Kelsey from Colorado

Kelsey and I met while watching the sunset over Annapurna in Nadapani. I had seen her around over the last few days, and could just tell she was a warm and inviting person, so striking up a chat with her was effortless.

About her: I learned that Kelsey and her fiancé, Matt, are from Colorado and both quit their jobs to travel for six months. Before the trip she was working at the suicide prevention hotline, which absolutely blew me away, but made sense because I could tell she had a great phone voice.

Biggest takeaway from her job:

Her biggest takeaway was quite simple: People are resilient. She had heard all sorts of stories about people’s traumas and hardships, but what inspired her the most was that these people were still fighting for their lives and still finding the courage to pick up the phone and call for help.

She also mentioned the importance of listening and validating, and I couldn’t agree more. Sometimes all people need to hear is, “it’s okay, I hear you.”

What she’s looking for:

Self contentment. Kelsey was open about how she felt like she was in survival mode at her job, burning out with life, and not taking care of herself. Part of the purpose of this trip was to reconnect with herself, her needs, and her goals.

Kelsey reflected how a lot of us are feeling. What really stuck with me though was how she not only talked about what she wants to get from her travels, but how she wants to bring back those learnings back home with her.

It’s easy to think about how you want to grow as a person while you travel, but it’s harder to think about how that growth extends past the trip itself. I’m certainly not perfect at it.

I believe everything happens for a reason, and chatting with Kelsey that evening felt serendipitous in a way. Earlier in the day, while I was cursing my way up from Ghorepani, I kept telling myself, “I am resilient.” It struck me when she used that same word, and I couldn’t help but smile at how right she was.